Flatland: Madness of the Pliny
by Iruka Sensei871
Summary: Pliny the First conquered the land, but madness drove him to destroy it.  Obsessed with making it flat and building a giant pyramid, he caused famine and poverty.  The people of Flatland built a new life for themselves, but the madness remained.
1. Chapter 1

Flatland: the Madness of the Pliny

Chapter One: Pliny the First

They arrived in wooden boats with iron swords, and the peaceful native farmers never had any hope of escape. The men called themselves the Valhallan, and they quickly took over the scattered tribes and farmland. In that time the land was lush and the animals plentiful. The Vahallan brought no women with them, but took women from the farmers instead. They began to interbreed with the native people, and their sons were strong and fierce.

Their leader was a man named Kartusian, but as he looked out over the fertile fields and lakes he declared, "I will call myself Pliny (which is Great King in the old tongue). He made the tribes send a tithe of their sons to serve him, and the Vahallans drank and made war as the people suffered.

Over time Pliny learned to love the people, and he became a wiser king, if not a gentle one. He allowed the villages to make their own laws as long as they sent their sons to serve him and sent him a yearly offering of animals and money. The people didn't love him, but they were a taciturn lot and grew to accept their new way of life.

When he was in his 52nd year, Pliny the First fell ill with a harsh fever. He lay in bed many days seeing strange fevered visions and mumbling dark prophesies. When his fever abated he was a changed king, and the people suffered again. He became obsessed with the idea that the land should be flat. His warriors had conquered every people in range of their boats and had grown bored. They welcomed Pliny's new vision with the enthusiasm of a child with a new toy.

Pliny called together the elders of the village and explained to them his plan. "All of the land shall be brought to the level of the sea. Even the mountains will fall before my might!"

The elders begged him to listen to reason. "Our farmland will be ruined! The sea storms will kill us all!" they cried, but Pliny still had the fever vision, and he bade them be silent.

His men sought for able-bodied workers throughout the kingdom, until there were only the old and infirm left in the villages. The men were given iron shovels and pickaxes and set to breaking the stone and hauling the sand to Pliny's massive storehouses. He made great stores of all sorts of landscape. Nothing escaped his madness. Dirt, cobblestone, gravel, even the very flowers and wood of the land were stored, for in his arrogance he assumed that his successors would want to follow his secret plan. He told no one why he created such stores. Even his Vahallan advisors were turned away with a quiet smile. "I will build something the world will remember forever. Vahallans will never fade from the earth."

His warriors believed him, and drove the people harder. Farms were torn apart, and hills and mountains pulled down bit by bit. For hundreds of miles around Pliny's headquarters nothing could be seen but ugly flat landscape, but to Pliny it had the beauty of order about it.

It wasn't long before famine and starvation took its toll, but the people were resourceful. They began to fish for food and to plant in the areas that were left untouched because they were already at sea level. Pliny allowed the workers to return home to plant and harvest, but the women, children, and old villagers were forced to work the farms. They grew thin and many died, but the sons of the Vahallans were strong and persevered.

When enough materials had been gathered, Pliny declared that the Flattening would stop for a time. He built a large wooden platform so he could address the people with his booming voice, and when the workers had assembled along with the village elders and his own Vahallans he announced his great plan.

"I am a god!" he said. "The proof is before you." He swept his hand toward the great man-made plain. "Could any mortal have done this? No, of course not. Worship me!"

A great cheer arose from his warriors, and they shook their iron swords in the air. "Pliny is god!" they yelled.

The people looked at one another in confusion. Perhaps he was a god? If he was one, he was immortal, and they had hoped for respite when he died.

Pliny saw their confusion and laughed. They would understand when they saw the works he would perform. "People of Flatland – for so he called his kingdom – you shall build for me a great pyramid, a massive structure to show my power. And it shall be built entirely out of sand where I stand right now. No other materials shall be used, for sand is the weakest of building materials and will show my power by building the strongest structure."

It was the logic of a madman, but the madman had warriors to back him up. The people went to work, hauling sand from the storehouses to the area designated for the pyramid.

Halman, the man designated as foreman, approached Pliny. He bowed and kept his eyes facing the ground until Pliny said, "you may look at your god".

"Great Pliny, forgive my ignorance, but I lack the wisdom of a god. How shall we build your pyramid out of sand?"

Pliny called the court magician, a bold man known for calling lightening out of the air to frighten children, and setting farm animals on fire to watch them run through the forest and light the trees.

Kigg – for so was he called – poured out a bucket of sand on the floor and waved his arms over it. It formed itself into a block. Halman gasped and poked it with a finger. It was solid, but it still had the shifting properties of sand. Kigg gave him a smug look.

"See how your god is wise?" Pliny asked, but Halman thought it was strange the "god" didn't perform such feats on his own.

"Of course, Great Pliny," Halman answered diplomatically.

"Proceed with the building," Pliny said, and he waved his hand to dismiss the foreman. Halman backed out of the room, bowing as he did so. It was forbidden to turn one's back to the king. To do so was death for any but the Vahallans.

The sand blocks were difficult to work with. They would stack and stay where they were placed because of the magic built into them, but they shifted and bent according to their own will. Some workers they seemed to respect, and they lay quietly. Some others they had a dislike for, and they moved and struggled against the builders. Halman learned to use such workers for building wooden scaffolds or bring water and food after several were pushed off the rising structure. A worker even said he saw the sand move in a way that sent a man plunging to his death.

Pliny had explicit instructions, and the pyramid was to reach almost to the clouds themselves. The Vahallans had become infected with Pliny's madness, and they pushed the workers to exhaustion. They built the Great Pyramid in thirty years exactly, and on the day it was finished Pliny called them together. He made a rambling speech which few of them could hear, for he was old and infirm. His warriors had grown old and been replaced with their sons and the sons of villagers who believed in Pliny's godhood.

Pliny retired to his house at the base of the pyramid, and when his chambermaid came to serve him in the morning, she found him still in bed. He had died in his sleep, content that his pyramid would ensure he was remembered forever.

The warriors mourned his passing, and the people pretended to. Secretly, the people of Flatland celebrated, for they had lost a tyrant. The king's son was known to be wise, if not gentle, and they had hope again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Pliny the Younger

With the passing of the King restlessness filled the land. Many of the farmers returned to their homes, only to find the hills had been pulled down and the valleys filled in. They returned to the shanty towns they had built around the pyramid and cried out to the late King's advisors. "We were torn from the land, and now we starve. If Pliny really was a god, call him forth to lead us."

Then did Pliny's advisors conference and seek wisdom from each other, but they were confused. When Pliny's only son Daron heard of his father's death, he returned from his travels – for he was a great seeker of knowledge – to help his people.

Daron had exiled himself during his father's reign because of Pliny's cold heart toward the plight of the workers. Pliny had neglected Daron's education and left him to the care of his mother, who trained him in the ways and beliefs of her own people. Yet he grew in his father's house and caroused with the Valhallans in his youth, absorbing their recklessness and valor.

He was shown into the meeting hall of the advisors, and his first words to them were, "where is my mother? Why is she not among you as she was wont to do in my father's time?"

They were uneasy, but Atem, who had replaced Klig as court magician after Klig's death spoke, "she advised against the Flattening and the building of the Pyramid, and the Great King had her locked away, though she was his favorite in court."

Then did Daron's face show great rage, and the advisors feared his anger, but he was not his father and left them alive. He had the heart of a scholar and not a warrior, and he wished not to harm other men.

He left to free Dana, his mother, and the advisors conspired in his absence.

"He has not the look or actions of a warrior," one said. "His build and stance are like his father, but his body is soft and his eyes are too gentle."

"And yet I did fear his wrath," another said. "I was reminded of his father during one of his spells of anger."

Damon returned with his mother, and his wrath had dissipated, for he found that though she had been locked away she had been well kept. When the advisors asked him to be king, she pushed him to accept, saying he could help the people recover from his father's harsh rule. He had no wish for power, but he accepted because of his mother's words. The people grudgingly accepted him, but the Valhallans grumbled. He took the name of Pliny the Younger to please them, and they served him as the son of their king, although without the fervor they had served his father.

He had learned much in his travels, and he taught the people how to harvest the sea efficiently. Those who were starving learned to eat the seaweed and great squid which were abundant just off the shores. He taught them to eat not just the fish, but also the shellfish and urchins, which had been neglected as sea trash. The only food they spurned was they oysters, which were inedible to them. He taught them how to farm the oysters for pearls, which were prized in distant lands for their unusually dark colors, and Flatland began to be prosperous as never before.

It happened one morning that Pliny the Younger climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid with his youngest son, as was their wont on occasion. The sand welcomed them, and he taught his son the ways of empire. He had trained him in diplomacy and statesmanship, and even to read.

As they sat that day, his son noticed movement far to the East along the edge of the Flattening, for he had the eyes of an eagle. Pliny the Younger had abandoned his father's mad scheme, and as the land near the Flattening was barren and forbidding it had been abandoned.

His advisor answered his inquiries about the movement his son had seen. "It is only the Cult of Pliny," he said. "they toil at the Flattening for love of your father, and we can't get them to stop."

Even his mother advised him not to concern himself with the eccentric people, but the king felt a sense of unease and decided to visit the area. He traveled in disguise so that the people would be truthful with him, and he learned to love the farmers and tribesmen even more as he slept in their barns and hay-mows. He supped with them and made merry at their festivals, traveling slowly so he could experience the country more fully. He occasionally sent back messages by pigeon, so they wouldn't worry about him, but he trusted his mother and advisors to run the empire for him.

Several hundred miles east of the Pyramid the farmers had ceased expanding their land, leaving the area ugly and barren. Goutweed and wild boars had absorbed the land, and wild cattle lowered their heads and bellowed challenges or fled from him as he traveled. As he approached the edge of the Flattening, he looked in awe at the mighty work of his father, for where the Pyramid was glorious in its construction, the Flattening was sobering and solemn in its destruction. Wooden scaffolds had been built along the Great Wall, and he saw that they were not the ramshackle work of peasants but the carefully engineered work of masters of the art of construction.

In contrast to the dedication they gave to their work, the Builders seemed to have little care for their physical surroundings. Their camps were just far enough from the Flattening to be safe from debris, but they were built to be moved as the Wall moved, and they consisted of tents and curtains.

One of the Builders approached Pliny the Younger and asked his business.

"I've heard of your work and want to help continue the Great King's dream," he said.

They accepted him into their camp and set him to work hunting the boar and cattle in the area. He loved the Builders and their wild ways, and he left the Flattening only to name his mother Regent while he was gone, because he wished to stay with the Builders as long as possible.

And he saw that though they worked harder than his father's slaves had ever toiled, the Flattening was joyful to them. And he said," I see that choosing a work is greater than being forced to perform that same feat." Then did he truly understand his father's folly, for the people had hated him and worked grudgingly. The Valahallan's whips could only spur them so far, but the zeal of the Builders flogged their own souls with their own devotion.

When two years had passed he received word from his advisors that the people grew restless in his absence. With a sad heart he returned to the capitol, and he was amazed at the changes since he left. The people had been industrious and had buildings of wood and stone where only workers camps had stood before. Skeletons of building under construction dotted the landscape, and Pliny the Younger was amazed at the people, and he did love them.

Freedom suited the people, but a number of them had taken advantage and turned to crimes against each other, and a group of the Valhallans had become corrupt in his absence, running with thieves and murderers and frightening the populace.

Pliny the Younger had seen much in the lands during his travels, and he drew widely from his experiences for form a court of laws with judges from the wiser Valhallans, the tribal leaders, and even the Builders. He pulled the corrupt Valhallans into the court, saying, "we shall have order in Flatland, for such is the meaning of the Flattening, that order and law are better than chaos and lawlessness."

He spoke thus, although he didn't know if his father was a god or a madman. He earned the Valhallan's affection with such words, and the Builders respected his tribute to their Great King. The people were heartened that their elders were involved in the courts, and the land became easier in itself.

He spoke to the court thusly, "you shall decide their guilt or innocence, and I shall determine their punishment."

They were judged guilty by the court, for there were numerous witnesses to their wrongdoings. The King sentenced them to death, for though he was a compassionate man, he was not a gentle King. A scaffold was built in the center of the town, which the people simple called Pyr after the Pyramid. The people of Pyr watched the criminals die and said, "the king is a harsh and just man."

The Builders who had been called to the court approached the king. "Are you not the man who called himself Kana, who hunted and lived with us? Why did you deceive us?"

It was Hob, the Chief Foreman and leader of the Builders who dared to challenge the king in such a manner.

Pliny the Younger was pleased with Hob, for he had many around him who sought to make their words honey to his ears.

"I wished to see how the Builders lived, and I am pleased with your devotion to my father. Go, continue with your work and be happy."

Yet did Hob press his king. "We are unlike the people of Flatland and fear that in time you will grow to fear us. Make a contract with us that we may know we have the favor of the king."

And Pliny agreed to marry the daughter of Hob, for though he already had two wives they were the mild daughters of farmers and brought him little pleasure. He had watched Wilia, Hob's daughter, dance before the fires at night with bells on her skirt and laughter in her eyes, and he had desired her. He cared not for the wives, or for any of his children save the youngest, and he offered to give great amounts of tools and materials to her father, in addition to making her Head Wife. The other wives were docile and they accepted their fate quietly.

Wilia did her duty to the Builders and came to the King, but she did not love him. Her soul was like the lava that sprang from the ground, but though they strove against each other in spirit, he loved her greatly all her live.

A son was born to them, and Pliny loved him best of all his children. Enid, the son he had formerly favored, grew jealous of his father's love and strove to be the mightiest in his father's army. He was a great general, and his story is recorded in the Book of Enid.

Then did Dana, the wife of the First Pliny, die, and the people mourned the Queen Mother. Pliny the Younger sent through all the land for the best stonemasons among the people. He remembered the lessons he learned while among the Builders, and asked for volunteers rather than conscripting workers as his father would have done. The master stonemasons competed with each other for the honor of building Dana's tomb, and when he had gathered the best among them he revealed his plan.

"My mother will have a Pyramid like that of my father's, for she was the highest of women and wife to a god."

He declared that the Pyramid would be like her spirit, strong and made of stone. And the masons devised a method where the Pyramid would be hollow, unlike his father's Pyramid, which was solid throughout.

They built the Stone Pyramid gladly, singling songs in praise of Dana's wisdom. Pliny the Younger ordered a door to be built into the Stone Pyramid, and her ashes were interred inside, so the people could visit and remember her. And it was lit with torches and thought by all to be a proper monument to her.

And Pliny the Younger ruled the land in wisdom until his death. The land prospered, and the Flattening extended many more hundreds of miles from the Pyramids when he dies. And the people mourned him, for he was a great king in their eyes.


	3. Chapter 3: Warrior and Fabulous

Chapter 3

Pliny the Warrior and Pliny the Fabulous

Pliny the Younger named Wilia's eldest son Ker as the next king. This confused the people, for Kir had been raised for as a favored pet than a prospective ruler. Damon had let his love for Wilia overrun his sense, and gave her son anything he wanted, so that the boy had grown into a spoiled lover of comfort.

Enid, the youngest of the Farmer Wives of Pliny the Youngest, returned from the battlefield to reason with his half-brother. He had achieved great exploits in battle, and his scars marked him as a strong warrior. He had sought to regain his father's love by his actions, but his father had lavished all his affection on Wilia and her son Ker.

Enid burst into the land like a storm, flooding into the palace in full uniform with the stance and forceful will of his grandfather. Ker was sitting on the throne with his wife by his side. Even though Ker was only 14, his father had married him to a prominent elder's daughter.

Ker ordered Enid out of his court, and when Enid refused to leave, the soldiers were called. "Remove this man," Ker shouted, but they refused and threw down their weapons.

Enid told Ker he would divide the kingdom, out of respect for their father, but he would take his rightful place as ruler. He took the wild Northlands, leaving Ker and those who would stay with him the prosperous farmlands and cities in the South. Many of the people stayed with Ker, for he could give them luxuries that Enid denied to his people.

South Flatland prospered, but the people grew lazy and crime began to rear its head again. The cities became decadent places where people from other nations came to indulge in various vices.

Enid had no intention of leaving South Flatland to his half-brother. He only wanted him to be careless in his mind, so that when Enid had raised enough of an army he could invade South Flatland and take it for his own. He reasoned that the people wouldn't let him kill the named heir to the throne, so he would have to build a hardened army. He used the wild Northlands to test the strength of his men, and strong warriors from all over the kingdom came to join him. They grew tired of Ker's dissidence and longed for true battle. Enid took the name Pliny the Warrior, and all joy left him as he thought only of conquest. The madness of his grandfather took him, and he cared for nothing except building his army.

Ker grew more obsessive with his own comforts, and he became a socialite. It grew to be terribly important in South Flatland to be seen with the right people, and in the right clothes. Even the peasants began to dye their rough wools in patterns as if they were nobles in the cities.

In his 48th year, Ker grew weary of the parties and chattering of the women. He said to his advisors, "I will build a Pyramid unlike either of my grandparents. It shall be the most beautiful, fabulous thing ever devised, and I shall be remembered forever as Pliny the Fabulous."

And his Pyramid was built of stone, like his mother's. Unlike hers, his was kept under great tarps to hide it from the populace until it was finished. On the day of the unveiling the people were stunned by its glory, for the stone had been carefully covered in dyed wool magicked against the weather. The levels of the Bright Pyramid, as it was called, began with a dark purple and went through all the colors of the rainbow to end at the top with a bright red. The people cheered loudly, for they had grown so fond of amusement that they knew no other form of thought.

Tourists from other nations came to see the Bright Pyramid, and South Flatland became a place of games and betting. When Enid finally encroached onto the land, he was surprised to see few farms. Some of the people stayed true to their land, but most had moved to the city. They even bought their food from other nations, and had no real business other than providing pleasure to each other.

Enid called his generals to him. "I wanted to rebuild my father's kingdom, but these are not his people. This is rot. Destroy it. Kill them all."

And they killed all the people – the farmers, the sea-workers, and most of all the city people. They spared none but the Builders, who they considered worthy because of their devotion. When Enid sat on the throne, surrounded by the fat bodies of his enemies, he felt only bitterness.

The Flattening continued because of the Builders, but Flatland was no more. The warriors despoiled the land and fought among themselves until only a savage wasteland was left.


End file.
